Read a full match report of the World Cup Group F qualifier between Portugal
and Northern Ireland at Estadio do Dragao, on Tuesday Oct 16 2012.

Northern Ireland were 10 minutes away from a famous victory over a Portugal side 114 places above them in the Fifa rankings, but still managed to spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s big day with a battling point.

The Group F match was supposed to be all about the Real Madrid superstar, who was presented with his 100th cap in a pre-match ceremony involving Luis Figo, but Michael O’Neill’s men took a shock lead on the half-hour when Niall McGinn capped a fine counter-attack.

Ronaldo, and his illustrious team-mates, dominated possession and chances both before and after that but had to wait until the 79th minute for Helder Postiga to turn home a scrappy equaliser.

A point will be celebrated by a Northern Ireland side who were held at home by lowly Luxembourg last time out, but their bravery in the face of an attacking onslaught from Ronaldo and company so nearly yielded even more.

O’Neill sent out a compact 4-5-1 formation, resisting the temptation to start with Dean Shiels as a link between midfield and attack.

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Ronaldo sent a shot just wide in the fifth minute, while Nani and Joao Moutinho were both looking to target Ryan McGivern at left-back. But Jonny Evans looked in determined mood, twice clearing the danger as Portugal closed in during the first half.

With Northern Ireland struggling for meaningful possession in the final third, Evans took matters into his own hands, attempting to catch goalkeeper Rui Patricio off his line with a free-kick placed 10 yards inside his own area. The idea was Ronaldo-esque, though the execution fell some way short.

Then, with half an hour gone, the Porto crowd was stunned into silence. Evans launched the ball up front and Kyle Lafferty did well to bring it under control.

The Portuguese defence, pressing up the pitch, were caught napping and when McGinn raced forward into space, Lafferty found him with the perfect pass. The Aberdeen winger was one on one with Patricio and calmly lifted his shot over the goalkeeper.

Ronaldo was sure he had equalised in the 35th minute when he poked a boot at Joao Pereira’s cross but the ball cannoned back off the bar. The second half began in much the same fashion as the first had ended, Portugal dominating the ball only to be foiled as they moved in on goal.

With 20 minutes remaining Ronaldo appeared to break free of the defence but, just as he lined up his shot, Aaron Hughes did enough to deflect it wide for a corner.

The equaliser belatedly arrived in the 80th minute, the previously off-colour Postiga stabbing home in a goalmouth scramble. Substitute Eder nodded a deep cross back across goal, with Nani touching it on to the striker, who picked himself up from an awkward position to prod past goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

Reflecting on a hugely-impressive result that reinvigorates his side’s World Cup campaign, O’Neill said: “I’m hugely proud of the effort and what the players gave us tonight. I think we saw a huge amount of character in this team. It’s a huge result.”

His Portuguese counterpart Paulo Bento, however, struggled to hide his disappointment. He said: “This was a bad result, we were poor in the first half and wasteful in the second.”